


The Terrible, Bad, Not Good Day

by sherlockpond



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Aliens, Comedy, Dodgy Technology, Drama, Drunkenness, Fluff, Ianto is So Done, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:07:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25647061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sherlockpond/pseuds/sherlockpond
Summary: The Hub’s in lockdown.Jack’s disappeared.PC Andy's chasing down an alien around the grounds of Cardiff Castle.Gwen’s still in bloody Tenerife.And low and behold, John Hart has appeared.It’s like a nightmare, except Ianto’s awake.[Post Exit Wounds/Pre Children of Earth]
Relationships: Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones
Comments: 3
Kudos: 43





	The Terrible, Bad, Not Good Day

**Author's Note:**

> Oh hey! Look who's briefly back between episodes of very, very real writers block.  
> So I wrote this story, yikes, like two weeks ago and it's been sitting on my laptop gathering dust and being generally unfinished until I kicked myself up the backside and made myself go back through it.
> 
> Big, big thanks to both Nik (princess-of-the-worlds.tumblr.com) and Daniela (ultraviolet-eucatastrophe.tumblr.com) who have both invested their own time into this to check through it (because as I have learned, I'm the WORST for ridiculous grammar and spelling - and general word phrasing. And for being so understanding of my reverent dislike of OOC within my own work.
> 
> This was meant to be short one shot, and boy howdy did it kind of *not* stay within those very real parameters. One more thing! I've made The Doctor very obviously vague, so like, choose a Doctor and use that one! It's open to interpretation for the reader to insert whichever one they want! 
> 
> There's probably a few mistakes still from last minute changes, that's on me.
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

It’s midafternoon, the sky’s maudlin grey, and it’s absolutely pissing down. Another utterly miserable day. Andy stands, freezing cold, twenty feet ahead of a small cluster of police officers, all looking sufficiently pissed off and damp in the middle of the Cardiff Castle grounds.

“Davidson, there’s nothing here!” one of them shouts.

Andy waves a hurried and dismissive hand behind him and keeps his eyes locked on the sodden grass scouring the ground for  _ anything _ . He hears a snap of a twig to his right, and his head snaps in the direction of the sound.

“Come on, Andy. It’s just another hoax call,” another one says.

“Shh!” he hisses, turning for a second and glaring at PC Crane before continuing to scout the patch of grass in front of him.

He stands stock still for a few seconds and then sees movement out of the corner of his eye; a depression in the ground grows deeper and muddy water seeps in and fills it - showing the profile of an impressive and almost dinosauesque foot. Then another appears before they settle and shift from side to side as if the creature they belong to is cautiously moving its weight from foot-to-foot. 

Andy’s breath catches in his throat, and he slowly backs away, not taking his eyes off the two, shifting brown puddles.

“Okay,” he says in a dangerously quiet voice as he gets within earshot of the group “someone pass me my phone,”

* * *

Ianto drowsily picks his head up from the arm of the Hub’s sofa as his phone shouts for attention from his desk; he hasn’t been home in forty-eight hours, and his body officially hates him.

“Urgh,” he groans, his body feeling disgustingly heavy as he gets to his feet, his waistcoat loosely hanging from his shoulders.

“Are you going to get that?” Jack’s voice calls, distinctively frustrated.

Ianto looks towards Jack’s office and scowls.

“Why don’t  _ you _ get it?” he snaps, stalking over to his phone; he doesn’t recognise the number. “Hello?”

“Hi. Is that Ianto Jones?” 

“Who’s asking?” Ianto replies, immediately suspicious.

“PC Andy Davidson. Gwen gave me your number in case anything came up, you know, whilst she was away…” he trails off.

“Ah.” Ianto’s shoulder twinges, and he frowns, unconsciously doing up his waistcoat. “What can we do for you?”

“There’s something weird going on at the castle,” Andy says. “At first, we thought it was kids, but I’m pretty sure it isn’t,”

“What does it look like?” Ianto asks, rubbing his eyes with his spare hand in a desperate attempt to wipe away some semblance of tiredness.

“Well, that’s the other problem; I think it’s invisible,”

Ianto groans and moves towards the sofa, reaching for his jacket. “We’ll be there soon; try to keep...well, I’d say keep an eye on it but..”

There’s disruption at Andy’s end;Ianto hears a scuffle and he shrugs on his jacket quicker.

“Andy?”

There’s a colossal bang down the line, and the Hub almost instantaneously goes into half-darkness. Ianto looks up at the Hub, then down at the phone, and then lifts it back up to his ear.

“Get back!” Andy’s voice shouts, and there’s the distinctive sound of boots on gravel.

And then a growl.

Jack’s office door swings open. “Ianto? You okay?”

“Fine!” Ianto says, then brings the phone back up to his ear. “Andy? What’s going on?”

There’s another scuffle, and Andy’s voice crackles through the phone.“Ianto, it just gave off this huge pulse. I don’t know how; I think I can see where it’s gone. It’s left tracks.” Andy’s panting, he sounds like he’s in a corridor.

Ianto looks over to where Jack’s frantically typing at an erroring computer; he stops and starts fumbling with a few wires behind it, then opens his vortex manipulator and hastily presses a few buttons. The screen bursts into life.

“The Hub’s gone into lockdown,” he says, “but I might be able to get one of these working to try to reverse it - I put it in after...well, after last time,”

Ianto blaches and quickly shakes himself. “Looks like Andy’s with the alien that caused it. It’s at the castle, and it’s invisible,”

Jack rolls his eyes. “That’s all we need.”

“Jack, if this thing gets out of the castle grounds -”

“- it could fry the entire city and slip through our fingers, yeah, not great.” Jack triumphantly presses a final button and whoops as the single screen blinks into life. “God, I’m good.”

“Always nice to know you retain a level of modesty at times like these, sir,” Ianto says drily.

Jack arches an eyebrow. “You know what I’ve said about calling me sir, Ianto. Keep it up, and I might be less inclined to undo this lockdown,”

“Noted.” Ianto throws him an unimpressed look. “Either way, Andy’s stuck out there until we can get to him,”

Jack nods. “I think there’s something in the archives we can use.” He types at the computer, and Ianto sees him bring up the archive database; he fires a few words into the search engine, and it beeps positively a few times.

A huge grin cracks over his face. “There’s a machine downstairs, subsection nine, room twelve. We can use the Rift to project it onto the castle and keep the creature contained.”

“Like a Rift energy cage?” Ianto asks, noting down the serial number in his memory.

Jack shrugs. “Essentially, let’s go.”

Ianto starts crossing the Hub towards the archives, Jack closely behind him. 

Then, out of nowhere, there’s a crack of what sounds like lightening and then -

“What the hell - -?”

Ianto spins on the spot - he _ knows _ that voice.

“Eye Candy! Long time no see,” John Hart says, grinning widely.

“Where’s Jack?” Ianto looks around, but Jack’s seemingly all but disappeared.

John shrugs and wriggles as shoulder which cracks, he winces. “Don’t know - all I  _ do know _ is one second I’m enjoying the company of a  _ rich _ ,  _ young _ intergalactic aristocrat in one of the best bars in the Atraxan Cluster, and the next I’m being unwillingly teleported...apparently back to this hell hole.” 

“Well, swap back!” Ianto grits out.

John looks down at his vortex manipulator and sighs “ _ I can’t.” _

“ **Try harder** . _ ” _

John stabs a few buttons, sparks come showering out of the wriststrap and he instinctively pulls back.

“Well  _ that’s _ never happened before.” John sniffs, looking put out. “Seems like a temporal switch, some kind of software bug -  _ never good _ ,”

The younger man eyes him suspiciously as he watches John try a few more buttons. “You know, last I heard, you were dead,”

“Well, you know what they say - only the good die young.” John looks up, and there’s steel in his eyes. His manipulator trills and spits out a few more sparks; John shakes his head.

“It’s no good; it has to update itself. And then it should fix the swap,”

Ianto runs a hand through his hair, momentarily grounding himself from shouting out in anger. “This ...is possibly  _ the worst _ time.”

“Why? Bee in your bonnet?” John raises an eyebrow.

“Yes, there is. We’re stuck down here because of some kind of energy pulse, an energy pulse caused by an unknown alien lifeform which is currently in the castle grounds. We need it to stay that way.  _ Jack _ had a plan; there’s some old tech down in the archives. He thought he could use it to create a forcefield keep the creature from going missing until we manage to trip the lockdown override.”

John pouts and hops down a step, nearer Ianto. “That sounds like the most boring alien capture  _ ever.  _ Where’s the explosions? The sex? The  _ drama _ ?”

Ianto shakes his head, turns, and keeps walking to the archives to save himself the pain of bleeding knuckles. “I  _ really _ can’t be dealing with you today,”

John bounds behind him as Ianto leads the way, winding deeper and deeper into the Hub’s bowels.

“You’re such a grumpy guts. I’m sure whatever Jack had planned is actually very easy and he was just being all enigmatic and mysterious,” John says, jogging to catch up with Ianto. “Show me whatever it was - it’ll be a piece of cake,"

Ianto huffs and just keeps walking, eventually coming to a room and pulling out a set of keys.

“Oooh, I like a man with a handful.”

Without thinking, Ianto’s patience snaps; he reaches out,grabs the scruff of John’s t-shirt, and roughly pushes him against the door to the archives, the keys pressing into John’s neck.. 

John smirks and glances briefly at Ianto’s lips. “You know, I’m starting to realise why he likes you.” 

“Right, listen up because I’m only going to say this once,” Ianto spits out. “Things are going to shit here, and  _ I’m tired _ . I was ready to go home, order pizza, and collapse on my bed. Alone. I need this to be over as quickly as possible - so I don’t have  _ time  _ for your  **stupid** innuendos. Help me with this, fix your manipulator, and get Jack back.” Ianto releases his grasp a little, exhausted. “God, it’s been such a shit week.”

He relinquishes his grip, and his hands drop by his sides, tiredness itching at every cell in his body. John brushes down his clothes, looking unimpressed.

“ _ Fine _ .”

Ianto takes a deep breath and searches amongst the keys in his hand; he finds the correct one and slides it home, unlocking the door with practised ease. The room is dark; Ianto fumbles for the light, switching it on and looking over the contents in the room. Everything looks in order, if a little dusty.

“There.” Ianto points to a clunky-looking computer.John cackles and moves towards it with all his usual swagger.

“I haven’t seen one of those since the twenty-seventh century!” He glances back at Ianto with an unfamiliar boyish glee.

Ianto throws him a look. “It looks more Steve Jobs start-up than futuristic tech.”

John tuts. “ _ Well, _ by the twenty-fifth century technology regresses a little; things go back to retro. Let’s be honest, no one likes dropping their phone on their face in the middle of the night. Things went to being clunkier.  _ Reliable _ ,”

Ianto toys with a few cords and looks incredulously at John. “So...the future is chunky Nokias and pixelated screens?”

John’s forehead pinches in confusion. “I understood half of that, but I don’t care. Let’s get this upstairs.”

Looking over the many, many chunky pieces of tech, Ianto feels his body ache in a wave of exhaustion.

“Okay.”

After thirty minutes of shouting ("Move!" "I am bloody moving!"), and a stubbed toe ("Why is this thing so heavy?"), the aforementioned tech sits in the space next to Tosh’s old workstation (taking up most of the area). 

John disappears behind it and starts messing around with a few wires; he pokes his head up after a few minutes.

“What did you say you needed? A force field?” He disappears again.

Ianto peers over the towers of stacks. “Yeah. I don’t really understand how that tech would help, to be honest.”

“Now, there’s a surprise,” comes John’s voice.

Gritting his teeth, Ianto takes a deep breath. “Okay. Why don’t you  _ explain _ what it does?”

John’s head reappears. “Right. So you’ve got 3D printers in this time, right?”

“Uh... yeah.”

“ _ Well _ , this computer can harness  _ massive  _ amounts of energy. Now, we just programme in what we want it to create and hook it up to the Rift - point and shoot. Once it’s on, I need to figure out how to create an energy field. It’s one thing  _ knowing  _ about this, and another having to use it.” John clicks something into place, and the computer screen bursts into life. As expected, it’s pixelated and in black and white.

Ianto runs a hand through his hair and watches as John bounces around to look at the screen. “But you can do it?”

John laughs, hastily pressing keys. “If you can get the Rift to work, I’ll sort this out.”

Ianto nods, then hurries over to the Rift Manipulator and starts pulling at the cabling underneath “What adapter does it need?”

John cranes his neck to look at the side of the machine he’s furiously typing into. “Circle, uh, a few square pins in the middle,”

Sighing, Ianto falls to his knees and starts rifling through a box under the sculpture; looking through different adapters, he spots one that sounds right - he holds it up.

“Like this?”

John grins. “Looks good to me. Get it ready. How long do you think we’ve got?”

Ianto looks at his watch. “Er, ten minutes? I’ll see if Andy can answer the phone, he's with the alien,” He pulls his phone out of his pocket and furiously punches the buttons, slipping it under his ear and holding it in place with his shoulder whilst he changes the cable adapter.

_ “Ianto?” _

“Andy! How’s it going? Is it contained?”

_ “Just about. Bloody thing’s got me running ragged.” _

Ianto hears Andy’s phone trill out a low battery message.

“We’ve got a plan. Just...hold on.”

_ “What do you think I’ve been doing? Sitting ar - -” _

The phone cuts out; Ianto pulls it from his ear and smacks the desk with his fist.

“Damn.  _ Damn _ ! I don’t think he’s going to keep it inside the castle for much longer,” he shouts to John.

“Get that line hooked up. I’m nearly good to go,” John replies, watching as the on-screen image flickers and steadies.

Ianto hauls the heavy cabling over to the machinery and slots the fitting into the port, sighing as it goes in without any issues.

“Right, now get to the computer and start opening the Rift. It’s going to resist when it’s passed through this - don’t be surprised if things go a bit...on fire. But just hold it steady,” John instructs, looking a tad wary (Ianto isn’t sure he likes that look on him).

Pausing for a second, Ianto takes a deep breath and slowly opens the Rift, his fingers working over the keys deftly and assuredly. He looks over as John frantically starts typing. That’s when things start to  _ explode _ .

“How do we know it’s working?” Ianto yells, watching as light bulbs shatter and spark overhead.

John grits his teeth and types with one hand, holding out the other. “Give me that phone!”

Ianto reaches into his pocket and passes the phone over, one hand still trying to keep the Rift steady. John takes it and puts it on the desk, scrambles for a wire and hooks it up to the phone - after a few seconds the phone bursts into life.

_ “Hello? Wh- How - -How have you called me?”  _ Andy’s voice says over the phone speaker.

“Don’t mind that! Just hold the phone out; it’s helping with pinpointing your location!” John shouts, sparks flying around him. “Can you see anything?”

_ “Ianto?” _

“It’s okay, Andy, he’s helping me.” The Rift nearly slips out of the Manipulator's grasp, but Ianto steadies it.

_ “There’s something coming from the sky,”  _ Andy’s voice says, dumbstruck.

“That’s us. Is it going to cover the castle?” Ianto shouts of the sound of breaking glass.

_ “Pretty much. Whatever that thing is, it’s going to be trapped like a wasp in a glass,” _

John turns to grin at Ianto. “Keep going. Once it’s sustained, I can set it to hold - we won’t need the Rift.”

Ianto nods and moves his concentration back to keeping the Rift under control.

John addresses the phone. “The second you see that energy barrier touch the ground, you need to tell me.” 

_ “It’s close. Maybe like ten more seconds.” _

John snarls as the computer shakes under his hands; he stabs the buttons faster.

_ “Now! It’s done!” _

“Ianto! Turn it off!” 

Ianto begins the shutdown procedure and hits enter. The Rift phases down, and John cackles at the ancient-looking futuristic tech steadies and hums into a low vibration.

“Looking good!” John taps a few buttons and then carefully takes his hands away from the keyboard. “How’s it looking at your end?”

_ “It’s holding.”  _ Andy takes an audible breath.  _ “Wait a minute - am I now inside this forcefield with an alien?” _

Ianto looks at John, eyes wide. “Um. Possibly.”

Andy sighs.  _ “Bloody brilliant _ . _ ” _

“We’ll sort it out, Andy. The main thing is that the alien’s contained. Once we’re out of lockdow,n we’ll be with you to catch it and clean up,” Ianto says, hurriedly. “It doesn’t seem hostile, if that’s any kind of comfort,”

_ “Well...you know... when you’re ready,” _

John chuckles, and Ianto rushes to the phone and hangs up.

“Right. Now to get us out here,” he says exasperatedly, looking around at the mess.

John chuckles, and it sounds genuine for once “You know, Ianto, I should give you more credit perhaps - -,”

It’s at that second John’s vortex manipulator lets out a long series of beeps, and blue sparks burst from it like earlier.

“Oh, it’s  _ never _ done that - -” John begins.

“ - - and then  _ I said _ ‘I hope you know what you’re doing with that!’”

Ianto watches as John disappears in a cloud of Rift Energy and is replaced by Jack, eyes squeezed shut with laughter - looking decidedly tipsy.

“Jack!”

Jack’s eyes open and spreads his arms wide, he grins broadly. “ _ Ianto _ !”

“Are you... _ drunk? _ ” Ianto asks incredulously.

Jack tips his head back and chuckles. “Uh,  _ yeah _ . Do you  _ know _ how rude it is to refuse a drink to the Atraxi?  _ So rude _ . You get  _ arrested _ for it.”

“It was only an hour.” Ianto stops himself and cuts his losses. “Come on. Let’s get you out the way, and I’ll try to sort this all out,”

Jack pouts, and Ianto wraps an arm around Jack, helping him to his room under his office.

“Knew you’d sort it out,” Jack says, trying to press a kiss to Ianto’s cheek.

“Hmmm.” Ianto narrows his eyes, unconvinced.

Ianto groans as he helps Jack into his bunk. “With a little help from your ex,”

Jack’s eyes try to focus on Ianto’s face. “With... what?”

“Never mind. I’ll explain when you’re sober.” Ianto says as he wrangles Jack out onto the bed. Loose limbed and hazed, Jack doesn’t put up much of a fight and soon he’s spread out across the bed sheets. 

Ianto shakes his head and rolls his eyes at the scene in front of him, and then climbs the ladder back up to the main area of the Hub; he pops a few buttons on his waistcoat and puts his hands on his hips.

“So...how to get out of this lockdown.”

His phone starts to vibrate in his pocket, and Ianto all but grabs it out of his pocket.

_ Unknown Number. _

“Uh...hello?” 

_ “Ianto Jones?” _

“Who wants to know?”

_ “A friend. I heard you were in a tight spot. I’ve got Andy with me; he’s fine - -,” _

Andy’s voice cuts in,  _ “No thanks to you lot,” _

_ “Yeah. Anyway, I’ve got the Diax; I’ll take it home.” _

Something clicks in Ianto’s brain.  _ The Doctor.  _

_ “I need you to drop that energy barrier.” _

Ianto hurries over to the computer and looks at the screen; none of it really makes sense.

“I don’t mean to worry you, but I don’t  _ actually _ know what I’m doing right now,” Ianto says, and he hears the Doctor suck in a breath.

_ “Just get the machine turned off; worry about the rest later,” _

Ianto swallows and rounds the computer, reaching for some cabling and ripping it out. Sparks shower over his shoes, and he leaps back; there’s a fizzling sound over the phone, and the Doctor makes a pleased sound.

_ “Wow. Yup. That’s done it,” _

“Glad to hear it...so what now?”

_ “Hold tight. Your lockdown...is there any way of rectifying it from the outside?” _

Ianto scrabbles around in his brain. “There’s a keypad on the outside, by the Tourist Office, but it needs a retinal scan. I’m not sure they have yours on file,”

The Doctor hums thoughtfully. “I’ll be back in ten minutes.”

The line goes dead; Ianto brings the phone from his ear and looks down at it uselessly.

“So my last hope of getting out of here is an unreliable, time-travelling alien?” He considers this for a second. “Sounds like a normal day to me.”

He quickly checks on Jack, making sure he hasn’t tried to do anything stupid. Looking down through the manhole, he sees Jack sleeping off his hangover. Shaking his head, he walks over to the coffee machine, praying the fuse hasn't blown. 

Thankfully, when Ianto jabs the button for hot water to stream through coffee grounds, the machine obliges and fills the cup below with an ample shot of fresh roast. He finishes the cup with hot water and milk, then folds himself onto the sofa next to the autopsy room, and places his phone on the coffee table, watching it intensely. 

He’s three-quarters of the way through his coffee when the phone screen blinks and starts to ring out into the room.

_ Unknown Number. _

He grabs the phone and brings it to his ear, putting his coffee on the table.

“Doctor?”

_ “I’m outside. Just had to pop back in time and sort something out. Bear with me.” _

There’s the distinctive sound of digits being pressed into a keypad. The Doctor lets out a triumphant shout. Suddenly, the Hub powers back up, the cog over by the entrance unclicks, and the lights come back on full brightness.

“You did it!” Ianto says, relief sweeping through him as he watches the room come back to life.

A growl comes down over the line, and the Doctor suddenly sounds a little preoccupied.  _ “Look, I have to dash; the sedative I used on the Diax is going to wear off soon.” _

“Right. Of course.”

_ “Now, listen to me before I go. I need you to take full credit for this. Jack and I aren’t exactly on the best terms right now, and I know that’s my fault. He can’t know about this,” _

Ianto’s mouth opens, but no sound comes out; he tries again. “Wait - you  _ don’t  _ want me to tell him you were here?”

_ “Yes,” _ it sounds final.

“Um. Well, I guess I could. Are you sure?”

_ “Deadly. Just...pretend it was all you - I get the feeling he won’t have a hard time believing it,” _

There’s a slightly louder growl.

_ “I’ve really got to go.” _

“Of course. And Doctor... thank you,”

_ “Anytime,” _

And then the Doctor’s gone.

Ianto’s left standing in the Hub as it ticks over, the frazzled remnants of a futuristic computer gently smoking, the distinctive smell of burning plastic in the air.

A groan comes from Jack’s office.

Taking the final sip of now luke-warm coffee and grimacing slightly, Ianto decides to leave salvaging the computer until later. Wandering into Jack’s office, he sets his empty mug on the desk and descends down to the bedroom.

Explanations can wait. Right now, Ianto is very aware his body needs sleep. And without the threat of aliens, he’s not about to argue with it.

* * *

When he wakes up, his brain feeling like its full of cotton wool, Jack’s sitting on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands.

Ianto props himself up with an arm, and his body protests; he instantly knows he needs more sleep.

“Hangover from hell?” he says quietly.

Jack turns and looks  _ awful _ . “I can’t remember the last time I had a proper hangover,”

“Welcome to humanity,” Ianto quips; he grabs a packet of ibuprofen from the bedside table and passes them over. Jack swallows them dry and takes a deep breath.

Ianto reaches across to him and tugs him back on the bed. “I managed to crack the lockdown, but the Rift’s been quiet since the Diax. Let’s make the most of it.”

Putting in very little resistance, Jack allows Ianto to guide him back into the sheets and sighs into the sensation of the younger man winding his arms around his waist. He relaxes into it and allows himself to be held - it feels bizarrely intimate which is odd considering everything they’ve done. But before he can think too deeply, he drifts off into an exhausted sleep.

The second time Ianto wakes, Jack’s gone from his arms, and he briefly panics.

“Jack?” he calls out.

A distant voice calls from above, “Upstairs,”

Ianto pushes himself off the bed and, feeling minutely better for the rest, shuffles up the ladder. When he gets to the top, he finds Jack standing behind a fully functional computer bank. He still looks tired.

Andy’s standing, looking wide-eyed around the Hub.

“Bloody hell fire, I just can’t over how with this place is,”

Ianto coughs, and the two men look his way. “Andy.” He nods.

Jack gives him a small smile. “Andy’s just on his way out - he was just telling me what happened.”

Ianto feels cold trickle down his spine, remembering what the Doctor said about keeping things anonymous.

Andy looks at him pointedly. “The force field, the alien, the way it disappeared into a bright orange light.”

“The Rift,” Jack fills in, and Andy gives him a skeptical look.

Ianto puts it together in his head, surmising that Andy must be under strict instructions by the Doctor too. Ianto nods along.

“Looks like the Rift cleaned up after itself,” Jack says, and there’s a finality in his tone, which Andy picks up on it.

“I best be off then,” he says, looking between Jack and Ianto; the pair shifts, and Jack extends an arm to the paving stone sitting innocently in the middle of the Hub. 

“You’ve got my number, let me know if you need any help cleaning up,” Jack says as Andy approaches the paving slab.

Andy nods, and then gives him yet another skeptical look before standing on the stone; Jack chuckles when he hits the extension button, the arm rattles to life, Andy squawks as he’s lifted towards the ceiling. Ianto laughs softly as the paving stone above shifts out of place, and Andy lets out a litany of swear words and then disappears to the Plass surface.

Jack grins and then turns to Ianto; they share a look.

“I know something happened,” he says carefully, the smile disappearing from his face, “and I don’t know why you won’t tell me, but I know it’s more than John and the Diax,”

Ianto tries his best to look confused; he opens his mouth to speak, but Jack raises his hand.

“It’s fine. If you can’t tell me or won’t tell me, I trust that there’s a reason for that,” Jack says, and for a second, Ianto’s shocked by his sincerity.

“You trust me to keep something from you?” he clarifies.

Jack takes a second and then nods “Yes. Ianto, I’d trust you with  _ anything _ . If something’s happened that I don’t need to know about. I trust you to make that decision,”

The breath in Ianto’s lungs disappears and he really considers what that means to him, and for them.

“Okay,” he says simply.

Jack smiles sadly and holds out his hand, Ianto smirks and takes the hand. Jack draws him close and Ianto feels his cheeks heat up. 

Jack presses his lips to Ianto’s forehead and the younger man shifts uncomfortably. Chuckling, Jack pulls back and then pulls him in for a real kiss, and this time he melts into it. 

They pull apart after a minute or so, and Ianto feels another wave of tiredness overtake him. He focuses on the warmth of Jack’s hands on his hips and settles into the feeling of someone taking some of his own weight. They stand there for a few seconds and before Jack’s hand moves to the small of his back.

“Let’s go to your place,” Jack says quietly “get out of these clothes and sleep for as long as possible,”

Ianto looks at him sideways “No sex?”

Jack’s face cracks into a wide smile “I’m sure we can come to a compromise - if you’re not too tired,”

“I was more concerned about your hangover, sir, I hear that they affect you considerably more the older you get,”

The smile morphs into an incredulous jaw drop and Jack’s fingers trace round the edge of Ianto’s trousers and slide into the front belt loops.

“Mr Jones, I do believe that’s insubordination,” Jack says lowly.

“Perhaps you should put me in my place, Captain Harkness,” Ianto replies smoothly.

Laughing, Jack relinquishes his grip on Ianto’s trousers. 

“Hold that thought,” he says with a wink.

Jack jogs over to the coat stand in his office to retrieve his coat. He slings it over his left arm and then offers Ianto his right elbow. Ianto rolls his eyes and threads his arms through Jack’s and then head towards the garage.

“I’ll show you old age,” he says quietly as they disappear from the main area of the Hub.

_ fin _

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> You made it! Thanks for reading!
> 
> Please leave comments, kudos (or perhaps bookmark this is you really, really, enjoyed it)!
> 
> I'm on tumblr!  
> sherlockpond.tumblr.com


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